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If you’ve had a dental crown procedure, Now Care Dental recommends several homecare instructions that will ensure your comfort—and successful placement of your crown. The same holds true after a dental bridge procedure.
Whether you’ve had a permanent or temporary crown or bridge placement, it’s important that you do the following until the anesthetic wears off:
Chew on the opposite of your mouth—especially on the day of your procedure—and don’t eat or drink hot food or drinks because you could unknowingly burn yourself. Be careful not to bite your cheeks, lips or tongue. We recommend avoiding sticky, chewy food such as bagels, candy or gummy bears. Also stay away from crunchy, hard food like nuts or chips. After the first 24 hours, you can resume normal eating.
You should brush regularly and floss carefully to keep your mouth clean. During the first 24 hours, brush along the gum line around the crown or bridge—and be sure to thread the floss through at the gumline, do not pull up as this can loosen the crown. The day after your procedure, you can floss normally.
It’s possible (and normal) to temporarily experience hot and cold sensitivity following a bridge or dental crown procedure—this will subside. To help with sensitivity, you can brush your teeth using a desensitizing toothpaste like Sensodyne.
To minimize dental crown pain, gum tenderness or to alleviate soreness in the area where the anesthetic was injected, take Tylenol or ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin). Also, rinse with warm salt water at least three times daily for 30 seconds to help with pain and swelling—just mix one teaspoon of salt in one cup warm water.
If you feel nauseous from the anesthetic after your crown or dental bridge procedure, we recommend that you drink flat cola (Pepsi or Coke). You can also eat soda crackers or use an over-the-counter pain medication. If nausea persists, please call Now Care Dental.
In most patients, the bite is normal after a dental crown or bridge procedure. However, it can be difficult to sense the bite when your mouth is numb. If you find that your bite is uneven once your anesthesia wears off, please call Now Care Dental as soon as you notice the issue. Our experienced dentists will want to fix the bite to keep the crown or bridge from cracking as a result of a “high” bite.
In some cases, your dental crown or bridge could loosen and fall out. If this occurs, call Now Care Dental immediately so we can re-place the crown. In the meantime, it’s important that you insert the crown back into place with a dental adhesive such as Fixodent in order to keep the underlying tooth protected.
If you’re experiencing persistent crown or dental bridge pain, your bite doesn’t feel quite right, or you have questions following your dental crown or bridge placement, please call Now Care Dental’s Eagan-MN office at 651-686-6800. Answering services are available 24/7. Clinic hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.